A 5-Week Creative Nonfiction Workshop
Tuesdays: February 11 - March 11, 6-9 PM
The craft of creative writing takes time and patience to develop. But, if you’re working on a complex nonfiction project, high-concept fiction, or other less-than-easy to define genres of the business side of pitching your book can seem impossible.
Luckily, it’s not impossible. While writing a book proposal is challenging, it is also a tried-and-true process by which many nonfiction projects are sold to publishers and nurtured by editors. Completing your book proposal is often not only a first step toward selling your book, but it can also help to crystallize and focus a project, helping writers determine structure, length, and various other issues that can be overwhelming without a clear plan.
In this five-week course, experienced nonfiction writer Ryan Britt — with three nonfiction books out with a major publisher — will guide students through the dos and don’ts of writing your book proposal. All aspects of the book proposal process will be covered in this class, from structure to pitching, to sample chapters, and thinking about your book in context with the larger marketplace. By the end of class, each student should have completed the basics of a first draft of a full book proposal.
The classes themselves will combine lecture elements with traditional workshopping, though the overall focus will be on making sure each participant is getting what they need to get their project to the next level. Pitching, publishing, and agent queries will be discussed, too.
With a decade’s worth of book publishing and proposal writing experience, this course is for anyone curious about how to take their current book project to the next professional level. We can’t guarantee you a book deal after taking this course, but you will have something in your hand that can hopefully start you on that journey.
$275 Members/$475 Nonmembers
Ryan Britt is the author of three books of nonfiction; Luke Skywalker Can't Read (2015), Phasers on Stun! (2022), and The Spice Must Flow (2023), all published by Plume/Dutton (Penguin Random House). He's taught creative writing for over a decade in New York City and Maine at places like Catapult, Gotham Writers' Workshop, Colby College, and elsewhere. His books have been praised by Esquire, Publisher's Weekly, Booklist, Library Journal, and The Associated Press. His non-book writing has been published in The New York Times, Fatherly, Inverse, Den of Geek, StarTrek.com, Bustle, Scary Mommy, Vulture, Lit Hub, and elsewhere. Ryan is represented by The Fischer-Harbage Agency and lives in Maine with his family.
ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED
All MWPA workshops require advanced registration. We accept registration by phone, mail, and online via our website. We cannot guarantee registration in the final 24-hours before a workshop, and can rarely accommodate day-of registration.
PAYMENT & CANCELLATION POLICIES
If you need to withdraw from a class after registering for any reason, please email or call the MWPA immediately. You may be eligible for a partial refund or credit, depending on how far in advance you cancel. → MORE INFORMATION
QUESTIONS
For any questions regarding this workshop, please contact programs@mainewriters.org.
REGISTER BY PHONE
Call 207-200-7180 and register with your VISA or MasterCard.
REGISTER BY MAIL
If you prefer to pay by mail, please print this registration form (downloadable PDF) and mail it to the MWPA with a check or credit card information.
SCHOLARSHIP
The MWPA is proud to offer one partial scholarship to this workshop for members-only. Scholarships are awarded on a combination of need and merit. Application Due by October 1 at 9:00 a.m.
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MWPA WORKSHOP POLICIES
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